Consideration
by oh hay psy
Summary: Everyone has taken the time to consider Izzy and Tai's relationship-except for Izzy and Tai. Slash.


**Consideration**

For the life of her, Yolei couldn't get the idea out of her head. She wasn't even sure where it had come from; it was almost as though she had woken up with it one day, sitting in the back of her mind. And now it refused to be shaken.

She didn't even mean to ever bring it up; it had just... slipped out one day over at Ken's when she was hanging out with a few of the others. Her face heated as Ken, Davis, and Cody stared at her with identical incredulous looks on their faces.

Cody was the first to recover — at least somewhat. "You think Tai and Izzy might be... what?"

Yolei's features turned to a scowl, though the flush didn't fade from her cheeks. "Look, just forget I said anything, okay?"

"Calm down, Yolei," said Ken. "You just caught us off guard. The comment was pretty out of left field. I mean, what on earth makes you think that Tai and Izzy might be _gay?"_

"Yeah!" Davis finally chimed in. "And do you mean gay _together_ or, like, separately?"

The girl's arms crossed and she turned away in classic Yolei Sulk Mode. "If it's so out of left field, then obviously I'm just delusional! So, can we just forget about it, _okay?"_

Despite the phrasing, it was obviously not a request. Neither Tai nor Izzy were mentioned again for the rest of the evening. Yolei and Cody's trip home was quiet, giving Yolei time to think. Hopefully, the boys would just brush it all off as typical Yolei babbling before thinking. But it still bothered her, even after she and Cody had parted ways and she was in bed, staring at the ceiling.

She'd had a crush on Izzy several years back, when he was the president of the Computer Club back in junior high. But she'd had a crush on almost every boy she'd ever met at one point or another, so it wasn't that surprising. And for the life of her, she still couldn't figure out where the idea of Tai and Izzy being gay together had come from. The time they'd gone to the Digital World at night and Izzy had sulked about Tai not calling him jumped to mind — but, really, she would have been mad if no one called her either. Maybe it was simply the fact that they always seemed to be together, even when she would go over to Kari's to-

Kari! That was it! It was _Kari's_ fault! When Yolei had once commented on Izzy always being at Tai's or vice versa, Kari had made some offhand response about how it sometimes seemed as though they were practically married. It had been years ago — Yolei had totally forgotten it. But apparently the idea had stuck with her. Now that she thought about it, Kari would probably be the best person to ask about the whole situation.

But what was a delicate way of asking someone if their brother was gay?

Content that she had at least found someone to blame for the idea, Yolei left that question for later.

But as much as she might have wished that the boys had simply forgotten about the whole thing, it was far from the truth.

Davis, unsurprisingly, had made arrangements to stay at Ken's that night. It was late, but the two seventeen year old boys were wide awake. Ken propped himself up on his elbows to look over at Davis — both boys were in sleeping bags on the floor; it was difficult to talk when one of them was all the way up on the bed. "So what do you think about what Yolei said?"

"Which part? I usually just tune her out."

Ken rolled his eyes. "The part about Tai and Izzy." Davis stared blankly. "...Being gay?"

"Oh. What about it?"

Ugh. Sometimes conversing with Davis was like trying to have a political debate with a brick wall. "Well, do you think they are?" Ken prompted.

Davis rolled over onto his side and held his head up on his hand. "I dunno. Maybe. Does it really matter? They'd still be Tai and Izzy. They'd just be doing it sometimes."

Ken couldn't help but smile as he rested his chin on his arms. He should have known that Davis would be the last person to be concerned about any of his friends' sexual preference. As long as none of his friends were hurt or in trouble, Davis didn't really worry about a whole lot. He didn't let things get to him — it was something Ken both envied and admired about him.

Davis returned to laying on his back, arms folded behind his head. "Tai and Izzy dating would be like me and you dating." Ken laughed, but it was cut short when Davis looked at him with a serious expression. "It would work, but I'd hate to break Kari's heart, you know?"

The boy genius stared at his best friend. Kari and TK had been dating for almost six months now, and Davis had never seemed to have any issue with it. Was he being serious, or...?

Sometimes, Ken wished he could live in Davis' world. Then he realized that just looking in from the outside was strange enough on its own.

Ken wasn't the only one that the idea preyed upon, however. It was the next day, when the two of them were taking a walk through the park, that TK noticed Cody was being unusually quiet — even for him. "What's on your mind, Cody?"

The younger boy started slightly, jerked out of his thoughts by the question. "Hm? Oh, it's just something Yolei said yesterday." Had it been anyone other than TK asking, Cody would have just left it at that. But despite their differences in ages, the two of them were extremely close. It was unsurprising — the syncing that came along with being DNA digivolving partners did that to all of them. "She thinks Tai and Izzy are homosexuals."

Instead of being surprised, TK looked contemplative. "Well, they do live together..."

Cody smirked. "Yeah, along with your brother." After graduating high school, Izzy had opted to attend the University of Tokyo, despite being offered a full-ride scholarship to almost any school in the world. After all, he'd been the foremost scholar on the Digital World since he was fourteen. Tai was there on a soccer scholarship, studying political science — he'd surprised everyone when he had declared his major — and Matt was slowly working towards a degree in musical theory. The three of them shared an apartment near campus.

"And I know Matt's straight — unless he's hiding something from me _and_ Sora." They both laughed. Matt and Sora's relationship had progressed slowly over the years — though not for lack of desire on either part. Neither were the type to rush into anything, and the fact that Matt always seemed to be off touring with his band certainly didn't help. The two had been exclusive for ages, though, and were a well-matched couple. Sora was likewise attending the same university, studying design. Despite the distance, she lived at home, however — life had not seen fit to throw money at her the way it had the boys.

The conversation fell into a lull until the boys had taken a seat in the shade of a tree. Cody was once again lost in his thoughts. TK frowned and put a hand on his shoulder. "This is really bothering you, isn't it?"

Cody hugged his knees. "Kind of. It's just something I've never really thought about before. I-" He paused, carefully choosing his words. "I know this sounds terrible, but part of me can't help but think it's _wrong_ in some way."

Again, TK wasn't particularly surprised. Cody was rather old-fashioned when it came to most things, and still quite young. Not to mention perhaps a bit sheltered. "Well, let's say that Tai and Izzy are gay — hypothetically, of course. Would you not want to be their friend any more?"

"Of course not!" Cody looked positively scandalized. "Just because I might not necessarily agree with their life choices doesn't mean I would care for them any less!"

TK nodded. "It's like having different taste in music. You might think a band is great, while I think it's awful."

"...Did you really just compare sexual orientation to musical taste?"

"Yes, I did." The older boy grinned. "Okay, so it's a bad metaphor. But you get what I mean, right?"

Cody nodded slowly. "As long as it's not detrimental to their health or happiness — or that of anyone around them — I shouldn't really worry about it?"

"In so many words, yeah." TK's smile was softer this time. While Cody could be a bit prudish at times, he was at least tolerant and accepting of others. Sometimes everyone just needs a sounding board now and then.

Even TK needed his. Tai, Izzy, and their relationship — whatever it may be — had been pushed to the back of his mind until the next week, when he was visiting his brother at the boys' apartment. For three college students, it was actually a really nice place. TK knew it was because of Tai and Izzy's scholarship money, not to mention the pretty penny that Matt was pulling in from his band. It had three bedrooms, one with its own bathroom — they had given Matt that one, considering he was the only one with a girlfriend — while Tai and Izzy shared the front one. The living room was rather large, with an island separating it from the kitchen. They even had their own balcony.

The brothers had done take-out for dinner, and were now sharing a six-pack. TK was staying the night — and what kind of big brother would Matt be if he wasn't occasionally a bad influence?

Seated on the floor, TK leaned back against the couch. "Where are Tai and Izzy tonight?"

Matt shrugged, idly picking at his bass. He wasn't actually playing anything; it was simply habitual fidgeting at this point. "Tai dragged Izzy off to the library to help him out with some project for school. They'll be back later."

TK couldn't help but laugh. _"Tai _dragging _Izzy_ to the library? Never thought I'd hear that."

"Right? It's apparently due tomorrow. Izzy wasn't too happy about it; he just wanted to do the research online, but Tai said they would get distracted." Matt paused. "And by 'they', he, of course, means 'himself'."

"Wow. Well, I guess it's good to know he's finally taking school seriously, even if he is still a procrastinator."

Matt nodded after taking a sip from his beer. "He says he works best under pressure. And I'm honestly inclined to believe him."

TK had to agree. It was one of the reasons Tai had always been their leader.

It was then that his conversation with Cody jumped to the forefront of TK's thoughts. Truthfully, he'd just brushed it off — it didn't really matter, and he wouldn't be surprised whether it was true or not. But Matt was his big brother _and_ the best friend and roommate of both boys in question. TK felt comfortable bringing it up, and Matt would be the most likely person to know. "Do you think maybe there's something going on with Tai and Izzy?"

Matt furrowed his brow in confusion. "What do you mean?"

Of course, being a little brother, TK intentionally timed his next question as Matt was taking another drink. "Do you think they might be gay?"

Unsurprisingly, Matt choked. He managed to at least keep the beer in his mouth, but dissolved into hacking while TK laughed his ass off.

"What the hell makes you ask that?" He finally managed to ask, his voice hoarse from coughing.

"Mostly just to see you choke," TK returned, wiping tears of mirth from his eyes. He loved catching his normally cool and collected brother off-guard. "But apparently it came up when Cody and a few of the others were hanging out."

"Who brought_ that _up?"

"Yolei."

"Figures." Matt coughed once more to clear his throat. "What makes her think they might be gay?"

"Dunno." TK shrugged. "I wouldn't really be surprised though. I mean, when was the last time either of them dated a girl?"

"High school," Matt supplied. "Just because someone isn't actively dating doesn't make them _gay,_ though."

"I know that." TK rolled his eyes. "It just doesn't even seem like either of them are interested."

"College keeps you busy. If it wasn't for the fact that Sora and I have been together for so long, I probably wouldn't be interested in dating either."

"They always make time for each other."

"That's what best friends _do."_

TK shrugged and took a drink. "You've got a point. I'm not saying they _are, _I guess. I'm just saying it wouldn't surprise me either way.

Matt's phone buzzed — Sora was texting to let him know she was on her way over and to ask if he wanted her to pick up anything. The topic was dropped for the rest of the evening. He knew his little brother was playing devil's advocate. If Matt had been the one to bring it up, TK would have been pointed out the flaws in his logic just the same.

But like all the others, it festered in his brain. Even worse, considering his close proximity to the two boys. The next day, he was practically silent until lunch, when _Mimi_ asked if Tai and Izzy were together.

"Why does everyone keep asking me that!"

Sora, Mimi, and Joe stared. It was then that Matt realized Mimi was referring to their physical location, rather than their relationship status. Flushing, he slumped in his seat. "Er. I mean. I don't know."

To say that the four of them were on a double-date was inaccurate; Mimi and Joe were not actually a couple. Everyone, Mimi included, knew that Joe was head over heels for the girl — and the feelings were returned. But Mimi said that she was an old-fashioned girl, and would wait until he made the first move. Though getting Joe to man up was beginning to seem impossible. The others were taking bets on who would bend first.

After a full minute of silence, Joe was the one who finally asked, "What was that all about?"

Matt felt like punching himself. "Nothing," he quickly mumbled, suddenly very interested in his food. The others continued to stare. Matt let the silence reign for what felt like the longest thirty seconds of his life, before he sighed and gave in. "Apparently, some of the younger kids are wondering if Tai and Izzy are gay."

Their reactions were far from as entertaining as his was. Sora looked contemplative, and Mimi enraptured, but Joe pulled a face. "Eurgh."

Mimi, sitting next to him, reached over and socked him in the arm. Hard. "Those are your friends!" she practically shrieked.

Joe's arms went up to ward off any further blows. "That's not what I meant! I don't care if they're gay or not! I just don't want to think about _any_ of my friends having sex, regardless of gender or combination thereof!"

"Why does it have to be about sex, hm?" Mimi folded her arms across her chest and turned away from Joe. "Pig!"

Joe sighed and slumped in his seat. He appealed to Sora and Matt. "I really didn't mean for it to come out like that."

Sora reached across the table to pat his hand, smiling. "It's okay, Joe. We know." All of them were more than familiar with Joe's general awkward demeanor — not to mention Mimi's tendency to blow things out of proportion. And Matt had to admit, the idea of Tai and Izzy having sex weirded him out as well.

Mimi got over her indignation quickly, turning back to the group. "Well, _I _think they'd make an absolutely perfect couple!"

Joe finally straightened up, nodding. "They would be pretty compatible." He quickly amended, "_If_ they are." Considering he was watching Mimi out of the corner of his eye, it was hard to tell if he truly thought so, or if he was just trying to make up for his initial reaction.

"Izzy really is the best at getting Tai to calm down and focus on anything," Sora added, her tone thoughtful.

"And Tai's practically the only one that can get Izzy to pull his nose out of that laptop!" Mimi gleefully pointed out.

"You guys realize that these things make them good _friends,_ right?" Matt did his best not to sound surly. Judging by the look Sora was giving him, she was the only one who picked up on it.

Joe shrugged. "A lot of times the things that make people good friends are the same things that make them a good couple. And after all, we're talking purely hypothetical. I really don't think either of them are gay. Both of them have dated girls, and didn't Tai have a crush on you back in high school?" The question was directed at Sora, though it was obviously rhetorical. They all knew it was true.

Just as quickly as she'd gotten wound up, Mimi turned dejected. "And Izzy's probably not even interested in girls _or_ boys." She had a point — the very few girls Izzy had dated had all broken up with him because he seemed more interested in his computer than them. "I'm pretty sure he doesn't even look at porn!"

"Now who's making it all about sex?" Joe commented with a smirk.

Matt was reminded why he loved Sora as she tactfully steered the conversation to another topic. She could tell that he was uncomfortable, though probably had the wrong idea as to why. Part of it was he didn't feel comfortable talking about his friends while they weren't there. But the other part of it was the fact that not even Tai and Izzy themselves seemed aware of what was between them.

The normal social dances were completely beyond the both of them. Neither of them had ever been able to play the subtle, complicated games that were an unfortunately necessary part of relationships — for entirely different reasons.

Tai was led almost exclusively by his heart — he was straight-forward and honest, especially in regard to his feelings. Tai didn't have crushes; he fell in love. Quickly and deeply. He didn't have the patience for pussy-footing around — when he was in love, he was in love, mind, body, and soul. Which usually terrified the object of his affections, or caused things to move too quickly and end badly.

Izzy was practically the polar opposite. Unsurprising, considering the redhead lived almost entirely in his own head. He was too logical and rational, which did not help when it came to matters of romance. Every girlfriend he'd had — which was, truthfully, only two or three — had been the initiator. And all had broken up with him after realizing that just because they were dating didn't mean he was going to be any different — he was still socially awkward computer genius Izzy Izumi.

Both of them were completely inept when it came to normal romantic relationships. Which is probably why neither of them had realized that they were closer in ways than two guys who were simply best friends would normally be.

And Matt had a front row seat to it all.

Under normal circumstances, it wasn't obvious, unless you knew what to look for. Izzy truly wasn't big on physical contact, and was uncomfortable with anything beyond short casual touches. But he tolerated Tai's constant invasion of his personal space. When focusing on a project, he was practically dead to the world. Until Tai spoke.

Tai was the same. He had the attention span of a goldfish. Unless it was Izzy whom he was listening to. He could be defensive, childish, and hated being lectured. But he took everything Izzy said directly to heart.

Anyone who knew them well enough could see it — they balanced each other out well. As Matt had pointed out, it was what made them good friends. But living with them, he saw their private, unguarded moments.

While playing video games, Tai would sit back against Izzy's computer chair, and Izzy's hand would occasionally slide down and fidget with the mess of brown hair leaning against his leg. While watching TV, Izzy would sit sideways on the couch, leaning against Tai. Or the older boy would sit on the floor, his back against Izzy's legs.

More often than not, the evenings found them in Izzy's room; Izzy working on his computer until ungodly hours while Tai lounged on the bed. Matt had lost count of how many times Tai had dozed off; Izzy had gotten to the point that when he was finally ready for bed, he simply shoved the other over and crawled in next to him. He actually bothered to explain that one to Matt — Tai was impossible to wake up, and it was _his_ bed, damn it.

It didn't help that Matt knew the fact that Tai had dated another guy briefly in their last year of high school. It had been a boy on his soccer team. When Tai fell in love, he fell in love with the person — gender was secondary. It didn't last long; the boy had been curious. Experimenting, nothing more.

Not to mention the fact that Izzy had told Matt he didn't particularly care for girls at all — even the ones he'd been with. He'd dated them because that's what was expected of a boy his age. The last one had actually dumped him because while she could barely get a word out of Izzy when he was working, he'd drop whatever he was doing the second Tai called or texted.

Until TK had brought it up, Matt had simply chalked it up to Tai and Izzy being Tai and Izzy. Yeah, there was probably something there, but it was their business, they'd figure it out when they wanted to. And if they didn't, well, then they didn't. He couldn't imagine that much would change either way. And it definitely wasn't his place to meddle.

His resolve lasted until that evening when he returned home from band practice. Izzy sat cross-legged on the couch, while Tai lounged lengthwise, his legs stretched across his friend's lap as he flipped through the channels. Izzy had merely perched his laptop on top of Tai's legs and typed away.

Matt finally lost it. He stormed over and snapped the laptop shut—nearly smashing Izzy's fingers in the process—and grabbed both it and the remote in Tai's hand. Ignoring their protests, he turned off the TV and silenced the both of them with a glare. "Even if you two haven't noticed what's going on, the others are starting to. I suggest you both open your damn eyes and figure out exactly what is going on between you before someone else does. And then let everyone else know so I can stop being interrogated as to whether or not you two are gay!"

Okay, so he was exaggerating. No one seemed particularly convinced either way; it was all just idle talk. And the closest thing to 'interrogating' that had gone on was TK's gentle questioning. But both Tai and Izzy could be so oblivious to what was going on right in front of their faces that Matt felt he had to drive the point home. He stomped to his bedroom, turned to add, "I'll be in here when you guys figure it out," and slammed the door behind him.

Both boys stared after him; Tai's mouth hung open while Izzy's eyebrows almost disappeared into his hair. It wasn't until music started blaring from Matt's room that the spell was broken and the two looked at each other.

It was another long moment before Tai finally spoke. "What the hell was that all about?" He didn't blush, or even seem the slightest bit embarrassed. Just confused.

Izzy appeared to be in the same state. "I'm not sure." He leaned back, bringing a hand up to his mouth as he thought. His other hand drummed its fingers on Tai's leg briefly; He looked down, realizing what he was doing, and then looked back at his friend. _"Is_ something going on between us?" His voice was unsure, confronted with a problem that he didn't have enough data to solve.

"What do you mean?" At Izzy's gesture, Tai looked at his legs—which were still strewn across Izzy's lap, the younger boy's hand still resting on his shin. Tai's brow furrowed. He wanted to stretch out his legs and Izzy happened to be there; what was the big deal? Sure, he didn't do it to anyone else, but that's because they'd get weird about it. But, now that he thought about it, Izzy didn't let anyone else lounge on him either. He'd heard others talk about how Izzy always seemed so untouchable, unapproachable, which never made sense to him. But, did that mean...?

"Ugh." Tai flung his head back against the armrest of the couch. His brain hurt. "I dunno. I mean, does it really matter? I'm okay with things how they are, do we really have to 'figure it out'?"

"I believe so — at least for Matt's sake." Oh man, Tai knew that tone. He wasn't fooled by Izzy saying it was 'for Matt's sake'. It was simply the redhead wanting nothing more than to sate his own curiosity. Tai raised his head, mouth open to argue, but before he could get a word out, Izzy stared straight at him and asked, "Do you find yourself sexually attracted to me?' His brows were knitted and his expression inquiring.

Tai couldn't help but flush bright red. Leave it to Izzy to approach it like a science project. Finally pulling his legs out of the other's lap, he sat up. He remained sideways on the couch, but folded his legs beneath him. "I dunno, I never thought about it."

"Well, think about it," Izzy said plaintively, as though it was the easiest thing in the world. He turned to face Tai, elbows resting on his knees as he folded his hands in front of his mouth.

The intense black gaze would have made anyone else feel nervous, but Tai was far too used to being scrutinized by those dark eyes. "I don't know," he reiterated, thinking out loud. "Except for Sora, I've never really been into anyone who didn't show interest in me first." He didn't have to go over his feelings for Sora — Izzy had heard all of his rants during the whole ordeal. "But they were always friends, people I trusted. You're my best friend, and I trust you more than anyone, but I never thought about you that way. Not because you're a guy, or I was scared, but just because you never seemed interested in _me_ that way." Tai shrugged; there was no hint of insecurity in his voice. It was Izzy. He knew Izzy wouldn't judge him no matter what he said.

And Izzy listened to him whole-heartedly. He waited, in case Tai had anything more to say, but the brown eyes staring back at him made it obvious that it was his turn. "I can sympathize — to an extent. I must admit, I've never thought of _anyone_ in that manner, even if they _did _show interest in me. I always considered myself asexual. Likewise, I never even considered the possibility of a romantic or sexual relationship between the two of us. Thought I don't believe your lack of apparent interest was a factor in my case." He paused, marshaling his thoughts. When he finally spoke, he tilted his head back to the ceiling. "Romantic feelings — and by extension, romantic relationships — are always portrayed as confusing, enigmatic. My little experience with them has supported this. To both males and females, the opposite gender is traditionally a complete mystery. While I have no personal experience with homosexual relationships, I imagine they have their own pitfalls in regard to both parties understanding one another. Personally, I have difficult time understanding most people in general; romantic entanglements simply exacerbated the problem."

Man, Izzy could get babbly. Under normal circumstances, Tai would have interrupted him and told him to get to the point, but these circumstances were anything but normal. The fact that Tai could actually understand most of what he was saying for once helped a lot.

Izzy looked back down to meet Tai's eyes with a small smile. "I suppose I never really considered the idea because you and our relationship overall always made too much sense to me."

Tai had to agree with him there. The girls — and guy — that he'd dated had been confusing as all hell. Even the ones most like him he'd never really been able to understand. Yet, Izzy, his polar opposite, made perfect sense to him. He'd never once had to question his relationship with Izzy. Even now, they were discussing it only because _other_ people had questioned it.

"Well, now that we figured out _why_ neither of us ever considered it, what do we do?" Tai's question was an honest one. He'd never talked anything like this through before. Like most of his life, his relationships had always been jumped into head first with his eyes closed.

"We consider it," Izzy replied simply. He stood and began pacing in front of the couch. He did his best thinking while pacing. "While I do consider myself primarily asexual, I have never had the opportunity to experiment with the same sex. True, I've never had much interest in doing so, but as we've discussed, I had never considered the two of us together. The possibility cannot be discounted. You mentioned that you have no issue with the fact that I am male?"

Tai couldn't help but start slightly at the question. It was so _weird_ to be talking so bluntly about this. "Not really, no. I dated Satoshi in high school, remember?"

"Ah, yes. I'd forgotten." Only Izzy would forget the fact that his best friend had dated a guy. "Sometimes, such an experience can leave a bad taste in one's mouth." And only Izzy would be so completely oblivious to the blatant double entendre he'd just made, even with Tai blushing like a school girl. "So it seems compatible sexuality is a non-issue. Personal compatibility likewise, considering our close friendship. Which leaves..." Izzy stopped pacing directly in front of Tai and stared down at him. "Feelings."

"What do you feel?" Tai asked quickly, before the question could be thrown at him.

"I-" For the first time this evening, Izzy's words faltered. He rubbed the back of his neck; he couldn't wrangle feelings into line with reason and logic. "I suppose- I mean-" Tai couldn't help but grin. Seeing Izzy flustered ranked up there with soccer and food on his list of favorite things. Defeated, Izzy sighed and let his arms fall to his side. "Tai, you're my best friend, and that's not simply for lack of other candidates. I said I understand you, but you also seem to understand me better than anyone outside of Tentomon. And he was _created_ to understand me. But like everything else you do, you do it intuitively. Not only do you understand me, you let me be myself. You let me disappear into my computer, and somehow know exactly when I need to be pulled out of it. I... I do love you Tai, and I don't mean just as a friend, or even necessarily as a potential romantic interest." He clenched his jaw and hesitated, obviously trying to find just the right words. "I mean in any capacity, if that makes sense. I am perfectly content—happy even—with everything exactly how it is, whatever the current status of our relationship is considered to be."

Finally, it was Izzy's turn to flush red. "But I would be lying if I said I was averse to exploring other, ah, potential facets of our relationship."

Tai grinned. No wonder Izzy never had much luck with the ladies. Even if he had been interested, his speech leading up to asking someone out would probably put the recipient to sleep. The elder boy moved his legs into a normal sitting position and leaned forward to look up at Izzy. "I get what you're saying. And thinking about it now, I'm really not surprised that the others are wondering about us. I'm comfortable around you. Even though you're way smarter than me, you never make me feel dumb."

"Because you're not-"

"Let me finish." He gently grabbed Izzy's wrist. It wasn't an uncommon gesture between the two—especially when Izzy was about to go off on some tangent and Tai needed his full attention. "But that's part of it. You believe in me—always have. When I decided to be a poli-sci major, you were the only one who didn't look at me like I was crazy. Even back when we were in the Digital World, you always stood by me, even when the others didn't, or you didn't necessarily agree with my decision. Though that didn't stop you from calling me out when I was doing something stupid."

Tai didn't have to mention a specific incident—the time when Kari was sick jumped directly to the forefront of both of their minds. Unconsciously, Tai's thumb rubbed small circles into Izzy's wrist. He looked down and gave a short laugh. "It's really weird to talk about this. You and I have always kind of left things unspoken—we always knew where we stood without having to talk about it. Not that my other relationships had a lot of talking leading up to it. I didn't even realized they liked me until they shoved their tongue down my-"

His words were interrupted by just that.

It took Tai a moment to register that _Izzy_ had shoved him back against the couch, that _Izzy_ was straddling him, that _Izzy's_ tongue was down his throat.

Wait, wasn't _he_ supposed to be the impulsive one?

It was only half a second that the surprise lasted, before Tai threaded his hands into red hair and pulled Izzy closer to him.

Tai was in love. He trusted Izzy, loved Izzy, Izzy was his best friend and now officially more. It was too perfect; a small part of him expected a meteor to come crashing down on them both.

Instead, the second worst thing happened—Izzy pulled away. He sat straight up with a smile on his face. Tai wondered if it was because of kissing him or because Izzy viewed it as solving a complex equation. Knowing Izzy, it was both. "Well, that was a satisfying solution, at least on my part." He looked at Tai, suddenly hesitant. "I... trust it was the same for you?"

Tai grabbed the front of his friend's—boyfriend's?-shirt, and pulled him back down into another kiss, letting his actions speak for him. He'd never understood the things he'd heard people say about Izzy—that he was distant, detached, closed off. Especially not now, not with the way Izzy moaned into his mouth as Tai turned and pressed him down into the couch. Or the way his fingers grabbed at Tai's hair. And definitely not considering the way his back arched and his hips bucked as Tai's hands ran up his body beneath his shirt.

Tai's stomach flip-flopped at the idea that no one else got to see Izzy like this.

They parted to allow Tai to pull Izzy's shirt off over his head. But before Tai could resume, Izzy put a hand on his chest. His voice was slightly breathless as he spoke. "For courtesy's sake, I believe we should retire to the bedroom."

"Ah, come on," Tai nearly whined. He rolled his hips and was rewarded with a soft groan from Izzy. "Who cares?"

"_I_ care," Izzy retorted, though his tone raised in pitch as Tai bit at his collarbone. "Just because we have moved our relationship to a-" He was having difficulty keeping his train of thought as Tai's mouth moved down to a nipple. "Uh, more open and, er, physical-" The word was punctuated by his hips jerking as Tai undid the fly of his jeans. "Um, level does _not _mean that I am going to change my attitude towards privacy, especially regarding—ah!" Tai's hand was now in his shorts. Izzy flushed, and his last words were breathless. "Personal matters."

Tai's grin as he stroked Izzy would have done the Cheshire Cat proud. "You talk too much. Besides, Matt was the one who said we should 'figure it out.' Well, we did. It's his own fault, really."

Izzy's hands were now kneading Tai's shoulders, his body betraying his brain. "Nevertheless, we—fuck!" The curse was a groan as Tai's hand slipped further down. "Oh screw it." He gave up and began attempting to claw Tai's shirt off.

The next morning, Matt stumbled out of his room, wondering who's brilliant idea it was to make music classes at nine in the damn morning. He shuffled towards the kitchen in a pre-coffee haze, not noticing what was on the floor until he tripped over a head—and the recognizable mane attached to it.

Matt finally took in the scene. Tai was sprawled on the floor from apparently falling off the couch, where Izzy was still asleep on his stomach with an arm hanging off to rest on Tai's chest. Considering what obviously went on last night, Matt supposed he should be grateful that both boys were at least wearing their boxers. He was definitely glad he'd fallen asleep with his music turned up.

Tai might sleep like a log, but even he woke up if someone accidentally kicked him in the face. With a start, he sat straight up and looked around with a groggy expression. Half-lidded eyes finally fell on Matt, who was still staring. "Oh, hey," Tai said through a yawn as he stretched. "Yeah, so, Izzy and I decided we're together or dating or whatever."

Matt stared for a long moment... before turning and continuing into the kitchen to make coffee. It was way too early for this shit.

Tai's voice followed him. "Can I have the remote back now?"

* * *

edited for typo and formatting. don't remember what I originally had here~

also, please don't review just to bitch about minor background pairings. talk about missing the point.


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